The Babysitters
by Lily Hanson
Summary: "Everything's going to be fine. She poops, we change her, she's hungry, we feed her. She's tired, we put her to bed."


_Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Megaforce. This story is fan-made._

_Author's Note: This is not where the Megaforce series starts. If you want to read the series without getting lost, I suggest you read my stories in the order they appear:_

_**No To Date Nights - The Party Night - Project Partners - Megaforce: Lives Behind The Masks - **__**Prom Night**__ - __**A Trip To Remember - First Meetings - Something She Loves – Protective Morans – Samurai In Harwood County – Rainy Days – Luck Had Nothing To Do With It – Ranger Support – Parents and Children – Hero Without The Spandex – Emma's Night – Emma's Mother – Bait And Switch – After Death – A Stormy Day – A Date For Tensou – A Mother's Advice – Mending Fences – Executioner Named Revenge –Those Three Words – On The Fourth Day - **_

Troy held his baby sister in one arm and a list in the other. His parents were gone for the weekend on a little vacation and Rebecca had decided to volunteer at a camp for troubled teens also for the weekend. Troy had the house and his baby sister to himself, but even he needed a break. He planned on going out for an evening of pizza and video games with Jake and Noah while Jordan and Emma babysat Ryan.

"She gets a little fussy sometimes," Troy explained. "She has cranky days, and today might be one of them. She'll cry for anything, so you've got to be careful what you do with her. We usually feed her around six, and she'll remind you if you forget. She cries as soon as she needs to be changed and you can tell by holding her bum up to your nose…"

"Gross," Jordan frowned. Emma slapped his chest.

"You sniff through the diaper."

"Still, gross."

"She's got a bit of a fever too. I've taken her to the doctor and he says it should pass, but check her temperature every couple of hours and if it starts to rise, even a little, the doctor's cell phone number is on the fridge. He's really nice, so don't hesitate. Her bottles are all in the fridge and you need to warm them up in a pot before you give them too her. You have to check the milk doesn't get too hot, though, because it'll burn her and she won't be happy. Believe me. You can put her down for bed after she's eaten, and she'll cry for a little while, but eventually she'll just fall asleep. If she cries for fifteen minutes, just pick her up, rock her, sing to her, whatever, and then put her back in the crib. Whatever you do, don't let her fall asleep in your arms. If she looks tired, put her straight in her bed. Also, keep her nightlight on."

"Does this list end?" Jordan asked. Emma slapped him again.

"Babies are a lot of work. You've got little sisters. You should know."

"I never had to do this," Jordan looked at the list again and then to Troy, "Aren't you only gone for a few hours."

"Just keep her safe, okay," Troy said. He kissed his sister's head before passing her over to Emma. "Call me at any time. My parents' numbers are on the fridge. Becca's number is on the fridge. We can all come home at any time if there's a problem."

"Everything's going to be fine," Troy promised as he walked Troy to the door while Emma took Ryan to the living room to play. "She poops, we change her, she's hungry, we feed her. She's tired, we put her to bed."

"Emma, I'm trusting you!" Troy called out.

"We'll be okay, Troy," Emma called back. Troy nodded his head and looked to Jordan one more time before he walked out. Jordan closed the door behind him and locked it before walking into the living room and seeing Emma playing with Ryan.

"So, we've got the house to ourselves."

"I thought you'd understand this better," Emma giggled. "We have a baby to watch, this isn't going to be easy."

"I watched mom and dad take care of my youngest sister. I doubt they needed instructions as long as my arm. I mean, look, she's so tiny, what are we really going to have to do?"

"Oh no," Emma groaned when she saw Ryan's face twist into an upset look. Emma bit her lip and hoped Ryan wouldn't start crying already, but the little girl didn't seem to want to answer her prayers. She started screaming loudly. "Thanks, Jordan."

"I didn't do anything."

"You challenged her," Emma rolled her eyes. She picked Ryan up and held her close to her chest, "What do the instructions say about crying?"

"Maybe it's her diaper. Try changing her?"

Emma put her nose to Ryan's butt and sniffed, but she smelled clean. She shook her head, "Not the diaper."

"Is she hungry?"

"Troy said he just fed her. We don't have to worry about that until dinner time."

"Well, maybe she's tired. Try rocking her."

"I am rocking her," Emma said. "Jordan, just read the instructions. Troy's babysat alone before. He knows what he's saying when he wrote that down. What do we do if she starts crying?"

"Uh…" Jordan read over the long list of instructions Troy had made up for him and Emma, "Well, he said she was crabby, so maybe she's in a bad mood."

"So then what do we do?"

"Um… her booboo bear… that's stupid," Jordan rolled his eyes. "Who named it booboo bear?"

"Just get her booboo bear," Emma said. Jordan nodded his head. He read on the instructions that the bear was in Ryan's crib so he ran upstairs to retrieve it. Emma, meanwhile, rocked the little girl gently in her arms.

"You're going to teach Jordan a lesson, aren't you?" she asked.

Jordan came running down the stairs with a little red bear in his hands. He put it on Ryan's stomach while Emma rocked her.

"Not like that."

"What, she has it?" Jordan shrugged.

"Here, hold her," Emma said and held Ryan out. Jordan took a step back.

"I never held my sisters."

"Jordan, she's not heavy. Just hold her."

"Okay…" Jordan reached out and gently took the little girl from Emma's arms. He cradled her carefully in his own, making sure to hold up her head. Ryan continued to fuss, proving to both her babysitters that she wasn't happy. Emma picked up the teddy bear and held it above her. She waved it around. Ryan's eyes focused on the little bear and her crying started to calm.

"You like booboo bear, don't you?" Emma asked, raising her voice to a pitch Jordan had only ever heard her use when she talked with pets. "Aww, Ryan, do you want to play with booboo bear? Be careful, Ryan, booboo's going to tickle you!"

Emma touched the bear to Ryan's stomach and wiggled it around. Ryan grabbed the bear and smiled happily. Emma pulled the bear away and waved it over Ryan again.

"You like that, huh? Booboo bear's coming back! Watch out, Ryan!"

Emma lightly touched the bear to Ryan's stomach again and got another bright smile. Jordan breathed a sigh of relief.

"Whew, crisis averted."

"Ryan just wanted to play," Emma smiled as she waved the bear around. "You know, she's pretty cute."

"How long before dinner?"

"A couple of hours, still," Emma chuckled and looked up at Jordan, "We can probably expect a poop before then."

"Probably," Jordan nodded his head. "One thing I remember about my sisters was that they stunk."

"Did you change some diapers?"

"Occasionally."

"Good. You're changing Ryan's too."

"What? Why me? She's a girl. You should change her."

"I played with her," Emma said and looked down at the bear in her hand, which she was still waving around to keep Ryan entertained. "You change her, I feed her, you change her again, I put her to bed."

"That's not fair."

"You wouldn't play with her."

"I didn't know what to do. I… uh oh…" Jordan looked down and he felt Ryan wasn't settled in his arms. She squirmed for a moment before letting out another scream, "I think she's bored."

"How? I'm not even bored yet," Emma frowned. She put the bear down and took the baby back, "Jordan, what do we do now?"

"Uh… uh… the instructions say… the instructions… uh… well, we're horrible parents."

"That's not what they say."

"That's what she's thinking. She hates us!"

"Jordan, what else can we do?" Emma took the list from her boyfriend, "Okay, if booboo bear doesn't work, what do we try?"

"Aha! If she's really fussy, she likes water, so give her some time in the bath," Jordan read off from the bottom of the page. Then the colour drained from his face, "He didn't tell us where her bathing suit is."

Emma slapped her hand to her forehead, "You know, I asked you to come with me over Gia because I thought with two younger sisters you would know what you were doing."

"Do they make little bathing suits? What about her diaper?"

"Babies don't need bathing suits. Especially not in the bath," Emma said. She held Ryan up, "Want to go for a bath, little monkey?"

"Wait, she'll be naked?"

"Yeah, duh."

"You bathe her," Jordan said as he started walking to the kitchen, "I'm going to start rubbing two sticks together to start a fire so that by the time dinner rolls around, I'll be ready to heat up her bottle."

Emma rolled her eyes and sighed as she looked down at Ryan, "Who am I babysitting again?"

-Megaforce-

"EW! Gross!"

"What?" Emma asked as she handed Jordan the warm bottle for Ryan's feeding.

"That's breast milk."

"So?"

"So! You just drank it?"

"It was a dribble on my wrist," Emma rolled her eyes. "It's not going to kill me."

"That's disgusting!" Jordan said. He propped Ryan up in his arms and put the bottle in her mouth for her to drink. To Emma's surprise, he was great at feeding Ryan her bottle, and had even kept her calm while she waited for the bottle to be warmed to the perfect temperature.

"How is it disgusting?"

"That's milk from Troy's mom's boob."

"It's human milk," Emma said. "There's nothing wrong with it."

"It's boob milk."

"You know, the milk you drink comes from cows, right?"

"Yeah, normal milk. Not boob milk."

"Cow milk isn't made for humans, it's made for cows. What I just did is completely natural? Drinking milk from a cow isn't."

"No, what you did was gross. You can forget about kissing me tonight."

"Why is it gross when I drink it, but not when Ryan does?" Emma pointed to the baby, who was sucking all the milk out of her bottle. Jordan looked down and then shrugged his shoulders.

"It's different."

"How?"

"It just is."

"Whatever," Emma held out her hand, "The bottle's almost done. Can you wash it while I change her into pyjamas for bed?"

"I have to burp her first," Jordan shook his head. "Unless you want to do it."

"Burp her? Intentionally? Jordan, that's…"

"She's taken in a lot of air while feeding," Jordan said. "You have to help her get the gas out before she feels sick. It shouldn't take long."

"How do you burp her?"

"Here, I'll show you," Jordan passed Ryan over to Emma, "Dad used to always let me do this part with my youngest sister. We'd try to see how loud she can burp. It was always hilarious. Just hold her up on your lap, watch her head, and gently pat her on the back until she burps."

"Pat her on the back?"

"Yeah, it gets the gas moving."

"Okay," Emma said and followed Jordan's instructions carefully while he took the bottle and washed it out. Just as he finished rinsing, he heard a little sound and then a groan. "Jordan, you said burp, not puke!"

"Whoops, I forgot about that part," Jordan laughed. He grabbed a dish towel, "Here, I'll change her while you… find something else to wear."

"It's all over my shorts."

"You and I both came into this knowing babies could be messy," Jordan chuckled.

-Megaforce-

"Sleep!" Jordan said as he leaned over the crib and looked down at the screaming baby. "We've rocked you, read you a story, sang to you…"

"Your singing could be the problem," Emma said as she picked up Ryan, "We'll try it all again. This time, I'll sing solo."

Emma carried Ryan over to the rocking chair and sat down. She swayed back and forth in the chair while singing softly. Jordan grabbed his hair in his hands and tried to stay calm. From the moment he and Emma tried to put Ryan down for bed for the night, the little girl wouldn't stop screaming. They did as Troy suggested and let her cry it out for a few minutes, but Ryan never stopped. Eventually, even Emma got frustrated.

"Wait!" Jordan said and ran to the bathroom, "Her temperature! We forgot to check it before bed!"

Emma's heart sunk. She and Jordan had checked Ryan's temperature every couple of hours like Troy asked, but saw no change. She was a little feverish, but the doctor had already said she would be okay. If it had gone up, Emma was scared what would happen. She knew it wouldn't be her fault, but she didn't want the baby to be sick, especially on her watch.

"Uh oh," Jordan frowned and double checked the temperature on the thermometer with temperate Troy left on the list as sick but okay. "She's gone up a couple degrees."

Emma looked up at her boyfriend with worry. Jordan decided maybe he had done it wrong, so he tried again with Ryan. Unfortunately, he got the same results.

"Troy said the doctor's number was on the fridge."

"I'll get it," Jordan said and hurried out of the room. Emma held Ryan close to her chest and continued to rock her.

"You're going to be okay. Please don't be sick."

-Megaforce-

The doctor had been kind enough to come by the house with all the equipment he needed to examine Ryan. He knew of her temperature already and so knew what he was facing. He kept Ryan in Emma's arms as he examined her, because that seemed to be where she was most comfortable.

"I don't see anything seriously wrong."

"But she's just a baby," Emma said.

"She's showing no other symptoms of illness," the doctor said. "She doesn't even feel very warm to me. You could take her into the ER for a full examination, but my gut is telling me she just needs some attention."

"Attention?"

"Troy told us she had a bit of a fever," Jordan said, "We've been watching her the entire time we're here. For a baby, she's been pretty normal, right Em?"

"A little fussy, I guess, but she's been pretty easy to soothe," Emma nodded her head and looked worriedly to the doctor.

"Would you mind me asking how you took her temperature?" the doctor asked as he double checked the instructions Troy had left with Ryan's temperature that he had taken before leaving her, and the temperature that Jordan and Emma had gotten when they checked her.

"Under her arm, like Troy said," Jordan pointed to the instruction on the paper. The doctor nodded his head.

"Hmm. Troy must have done that when he called me. Would you mind if I took her temperature again?"

"Go for it," Emma nodded her head.

"I'll ask that you remove her diaper."

"Remove her…"

"Bye," Jordan said as he raced out of the room. He closed the door and paced outside as he waited for the doctor to do whatever he needed to do while Ryan's diaper was off.

After only a couple of minutes, Emma came out from the room. Ryan was in her arms, crying still. Emma looked a little pale.

"Did he put it…?"

"Yep."

"Ryan's temperature is perfectly normal," the doctor came out behind Emma, "Sometimes, taking her temperature under her arm is inaccurate. You can get a slightly higher reading than what's real."

"So she's fine?"

"A healthy baby," the doctor nodded.

"Why won't she sleep, then?" Emma asked. "She's been crying all night. She's cranky, she…"

"You know, I didn't see booboo bear in her crib. I've heard she loves that bear…"

"Booboo!" Jordan called and ran down the stairs to fetch the little red bear. He brought it up and waved it in Ryan's face. When the little girl saw her bear she started to settle. The doctor chuckled.

"My son was the same way with his toys," he said. "Well, if everything's alright here, I'm going to get back home."

"Thank you, doctor."

"Anytime," the doctor smiled as he walked out with Jordan right behind him. The teenage boy shook the doctor's hand when he reached the door.

"Thank you, you know, for… the temperature thing. We were really worried there for a moment."

"Most are," the doctor nodded. "It's a good thing you called me, though. You never know."

"We ran out of options," Jordan shrugged his shoulders. "This babysitting thing is a lot harder than I thought."

"You're doing okay, kid," the doctor said before he turned around and left. Jordan closed the door behind him and then walked up the stairs. He could hear Emma singly softly from Ryan's room and walked in quietly. He watched her rock the baby gently while Ryan started to fall asleep in her arms. Emma seemed to know exactly what to do to make Ryan sleepy as she gently rubbed the baby's arm and kept booboo bear close to the little girl. Before long, Ryan's eyes were getting very heavy. Emma continued to sing as she rose up from the chair and walked over to the crib. Gently, she lay Ryan down, hummed for a moment longer and then slowly started to back out of the room. When she closed the door, neither she nor Jordan heard a sound. They walked down the stairs and fell into the couch, exhausted.

"Alright, I'll admit, I was wrong," Jordan said. "It was more than just a change, a feeding, and bedtime. She's exhausting, and she doesn't even do much. By the way, how do you know so much about babies? You were amazing with her."

"I don't know. It all just kinda came to me," Emma shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, I had that list. But what about you? You were a natural at feeding her, and I had no idea about burping her. That came out of nowhere."

"We make a good team, you know," Jordan wrapped his arm around Emma's shoulders and pulled her in. "I mean, the kid's been fed, played with, she even got a bath time, which sounded like a lot of fun from down here."

"She loved all the splashing," Emma nodded her head. "She was born for the water."

"Now she's tucked safely in her bed with booboo bear."

"I can't believe we forgot about booboo bear," Emma put her head in her hands, "That's a little embarrassing. We called the doctor for nothing."

"He didn't seem to mind. He told me I did the right thing."

"You probably did. I forgot all about the fact that she was sick. If you hadn't of remembered, we'd probably still be up there pulling our hair out."

"Well, it's all over now. All we need to do is wait for Troy to come home and then we can go to bed."

At that very moment, the door opened and Troy walked into the house. He called out for Emma and Jordan, but his voice was a little louder than he anticipated. He winced because he knew Ryan was upstairs sleeping.

"We just got her down," Jordan groaned as he and Emma got up to greet the red Ranger, "Don't wake her up."

"She's your problem if you do," Emma said.

"How was she?" Troy asked. Emma and Jordan looked to each other before answering.

"Piece of cake."

"Nothing easier."

"So it was a good night?" Troy asked. The couple nodded their head.

"Fun and games the whole time."

"So would you like to babysit again? Noah's got this really cool game with the Power Cards and he and Jake were talking about a tournament tomorrow night."

"You know, we had so much fun," Jordan said as he gave Troy a pat on the back, "We would feel selfish…"

"Greedy."

"And horrible if we didn't share that joy and bliss with some of our good friends."

"Like… Jake and Gia," Emma suggested with a big smile. Troy looked between the two of them and crossed his arms.

"She's been cranky all day for me. Seriously, you had a fun night with her?"

"The best."

"We'd do it again," Jordan nodded.

"But not before Jake and Gia get to share this wonderful experience."

"Or Gia by herself," Jordan suggested before he was elbowed in the ribs, "Though Jake should probably be there."

"Alright, well, I guess I can ask them. Jake might not be too excited about missing the tournament, but I need the practice, apparently. I'll call them tomorrow."

"You do that," Emma nodded her head and then grabbed Jordan's arms and pulled him out of the house, "Goodnight, Troy! Give Ryan a kiss for us in the morning."

Troy waved goodbye to his friends as he closed the door. He walked up the stairs to his sister's room and peeked inside. She was sound asleep, but he knew there was something going on. His little sister: a perfect angel; especially for two strangers? He couldn't believe it.

"You gave them hell, didn't you?" Troy leaned over the crib and smiled at the little girl, "That's my girl."


End file.
